Author Topic: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95  (Read 10329 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

alancorey

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 129
12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« on: June 28, 2007, 04:31:04 PM »
I found these last night at my local Home Depot.  No, it's not a CFL, and of course there's nothing about it marketed as being anything to do with RE.  It's a silly battery-powered closet light, but it has a jack for an external 12 volt supply connection.  The connector's a typical coaxial power connector as used for many electronic gadgets, about a 5.5 mm (same as the Inchworm PIC programmer).  You could always solder wires on inside if you don't want to use it.




The bulb's a 12 inch F8T5, so I assume that means 5 watts.  It's fairly frugal on power

though: I didn't see it draw more than 0.46 amps from a 12 volt SLA, but I did have

skimpy leads with about 2 ohms of resistance.  It's quite a bit less amperage than a 12 volt 5 watt no-name CFL I've got.


It comes with internal holders for 8 AA batteries if you want to run it that way, but

I wouldn't expect a set of AA nicads to last much over an hour per charge.  In a

few minutes of playing around with it the worst problem I found was that it seems to

throw out a bunch of RF trash.  A scanner with its antenna about 3 feet from the light

was locking up on a couple different frequencies.  It also got a little warm, so it's not perfect.


Still, not bad for $10.95.  Brand name on this is Amerelle (made in China)

http://www.amertac.com is the URL on the package.  Model/SKU 73040.  Comes with Velcro

mounting, but also has screw holes.  http://www.amertac.com/content/products.nsf/Nite%20Lites%20&%20Specialty%20Lites/Utility%20Lites



/73040/p73040.htm


It was in stock at my local Home Depot, but I don't know about yours.  There's also a

smaller model about 1/2 the length, but I was turned off by the fact that it runs on

6 volts and didn't look at it further.


  Alan

« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 04:31:04 PM by (unknown) »

DamonHD

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2007, 12:39:16 PM »
Hi,


I have an F8T5 right in front of me.  It's 8W (at 12"/30cm long); the "T5" bit is the connector type I think.


Rgds


Damon

« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 12:39:16 PM by DamonHD »
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social

alancorey

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 129
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2007, 01:13:32 PM »
OK, thanks.  I thought it was 8 watt originally, but it was only drawing about 5.8 watts so when I looked at the bulb number again I changed my guess to 5 watts.  Crappy leads I guess, cut off a dump-fresh wall wart, plus cheap meter leads that actually stick to a magnet so something's not all copper in there.  The battery voltage was about 12.7 and the current through the loop was 466 MA.


A bad picture I wasn't going to use, but it shows the current reading.  Lamp is sitting on the SLA.



  Alan

« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 01:13:32 PM by alancorey »

fungus

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 448
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2007, 01:18:58 PM »
I've had almost identical lights to them before....

Not very good experience with them; I bought one which worked for a while until once I connected it to the battery one time, heard a bang and it stopped working. The other one I bought as a replacement failed after some time, I cant remember how. I reused one of the tubes with a 12v driver and it still works well. (seen here; http://www.reenergy.co.uk/12vfl.php ).
« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 01:18:58 PM by fungus »

CmeBREW

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 615
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2007, 01:26:21 PM »
Thanks. I'll check that out. I would like to make an all 12vdc lighting circuit for all my rooms to avoid the inefficiencies of a power inverter. Just one 13Watt (120vac) CFL wastes about 5 watts thru my inverter. (I usually only run 1 bulb at a time) -That adds up over the hours especially for a small system like mine. That light might be good for my bathroom at night. The CFL I have now in there is so bright its like walking into heaven just to drain the weasel.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 01:26:21 PM by CmeBREW »

wooferhound

  • SuperHero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2288
  • Country: us
  • Huntsville Alabama U.S.A.
    • Woofer Hound Sound & Lighting Rentals
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2007, 01:35:35 PM »
I have 2 of those in the Cargo area of my van. They've been working for 4 years. Also used one on a small 12 watt solar system that I had once. Seems like they will work down less than 9 volts.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 01:35:35 PM by wooferhound »

DamonHD

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2007, 02:00:32 PM »
My F8 is an "FBT5/D" which means 'daylight' I think.  I'm using it right now (powered by my solar PV) in my study instead of any mains lighting:


http://www.earth.org.uk/solar-PV-pilot-summer-2007.html


I want at least to try a 'warmer' white, since I don't much like the colour of this.  Also, recent studies suggest that the blue-ish tint makes it difficult to get to sleep afterwards; a redder/warmer tint should be more sleep-friendly when I go to bed after a late stint!


Rgds


Damon

« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 02:00:32 PM by DamonHD »
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social

stephent

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 268
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2007, 04:43:07 PM »
T5 means 5/8ths" diameter across the tube...i.e. one "T"1/8th"

T8
one inch across.....T12= 1 1/2" diameter tube.

F8=type/wattage ...the F=florescent and 8 watts.

F32T8CW (normnal sized 4' florescent lamp) = Florescent/32 watts/T8 (one inch diameter tube)/CW is Cool White light type output.


 

« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 04:43:07 PM by stephent »

DamonHD

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2007, 03:22:19 PM »
So 8W/ft then, which is what it seemed like from some diagrams I saw online!


Rgds


Damon

« Last Edit: June 29, 2007, 03:22:19 PM by DamonHD »
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social

yuandrew

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 17
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2007, 11:40:16 PM »
I have this same exact light which I bought from Lowes. The "Daylight" tube is a little on the blue side but it can be changed. Changing the bulb though requires one end to be unscrewed and removed. I remember Rite-Aid selling a GE bulb of the same size with a 3000K color temperature.


If you take the fixture apart completely (be careful not to lose the two little metal plates at the ends where the screws fasten onto) there is a potentiometer on the right side of the circuit board next to the on/off switch. Use a small flat blade screwdriver to turn it as far it will go counterclockwise. It will draw about 700ma (8.4 watts at 12 volts) turned up all the way and the light will be a lot brighter.


The circuit in this light is somewhat interesting as it actually preheats the filiments instead of "instant starting" (note that there are two wires going to each end of the tube vs one in most other utility lights) There's a schimatic of the circuit on a website.


http://members.misty.com/don/amtac1.gif

« Last Edit: June 29, 2007, 11:40:16 PM by yuandrew »

iamdewayne

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 25
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2007, 12:07:38 PM »
Holy cow!  What a neat site to read through.


Here's his start page.  


http://members.misty.com/don/index.html


luck,   Dewayne

« Last Edit: October 01, 2007, 12:07:38 PM by iamdewayne »

Tony Zara

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 14
Re: 12 volt fluorescent at Home Depot for $10.95
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2007, 06:25:33 PM »
I tried to post this but I think I was pruned. Has anybody played with "emergency ballasts" for fluorescents? They have batteries and inverters built in to keep regular fixtures running during outages. Seems like they could be tweaked to run all the time with off board batteries and you could pick your size and type of fluorescent bulb.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2007, 06:25:33 PM by Tony Zara »